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Another World Cup and Craig Foster calls for the Dutch coach of an Australian team to be sacked. We’ve been down this path before, however this time the Joeys’ performances in Mexico raise a fundamental point about youth football: what exactly is the point of the under-17 World Cup?
Writing for The World Game website, Foster says Australia’s under-17 coach Jan Versleijen “has to go” because in their four games in the tournament, the Joeys failed to control possession, failed to build from defence and failed to employ combinations – all central tenets of the National Curriculum.
Arguing that performances are more important than results in youth football, Foster claims Versleijen – also Australia’s under-20 coach – likewise failed to develop “tactical concepts” for his crop of young players and suggests the quality of play on show in Mexico was “unacceptable.”
It’s typically hard hitting stuff from one of Australian football’s most outspoken analysts and a player who represented Australia at an under-16 World Cup.
Yet as we know, only a select few from the hundreds of players representing their respective countries in Mexico will go on to have long professional careers in the game.
And if results are largely academic, what exactly is the point of the under-17 World Cup?
The chance to introduce youngsters to international tournament football is an obvious benefit, as is the opportunity to develop a tight-knit squad over a number of years.
And the temperaments and mental capabilities of young talents are no doubt tested by playing at the highest level available to them.
However, virtually the same opportunities are available by playing regular friendlies, and the fact FIFA also runs an under-20 World Cup arguably makes the younger age-limit version redundant.
That’s especially the case if the tournament serves only to reinforce bad habits, one of which was the sort of ill-discipline we saw from the Joeys in their 4-0 second round thrashing at the hands of Uzbekistan last week.
Interestingly enough, Australia celebrated a rare double success in tennis last weekend when Luke Saville and Ash Barty lifted the boys’ and girls’ junior Wimbledon titles respectively.
Yet, Tennis Australia’s investment will surely only be judged once the pair reach senior ranks.
And other than acting as a means of bringing international football to regions unlikely to host a senior World Cup in the foreseeable future, it’s hard to see what tangible benefits FIFA’s youngest underage international tournament actually brings.
The same can’t be said of the Women’s World Cup, currently going gangbusters in Germany.
More than 73,000 fans turned out to watch host nation Germany’s opening clash with Canada, but for Australian fans the most important statistic is the number of points Tom Sermanni’s team ends up with in a tough Group D.
A 3-2 win over Equatorial Guinea overnight put the Matildas in the driving seat to qualify for the second round, although they need to avoid defeat against Norway in their final group-stage game to do so.
And they’ll also need defender Servet Uzunlar to overcome her nightmare performance against the gritty Africans, after she was robbed of possession twice by Anonman to concede two costly goals.
Some dreadful refereeing aside, the Women’s World Cup has proved thoroughly entertaining to date and from an Australian point of view, I’ve been just as intrigued to view Sermanni’s tactics as I was Versleijen’s.
It’s not quite a case of boys against women, but the contrast between FIFA’s two on-going tournaments is an interesting one.
And with the under-20 World Cup kicking off in Colombia later this month, it’s hard to see what long-term value the under-17 World Cup brings to the beautiful game.